Tag Archives: Pollution

Neonics Found in US Drinking Water
The class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids have been implicated in a variety of environmental problems, perhaps best known is their suspected connection with devastated bee populations. Now it has been discovered that the chemicals have found their way into American drinking water. Little is know about what this could mean for health, and you can be sure more research is on its way, but the BBC has the story for now: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39504487

Global Food Trade Driving Water Depletion
The pressures on water supplies worldwide are substantially exceeding sustainability, and agriculture is a primary driver of this overuse. Global trade, rather than serving to mitigate these effects, is greatly exacerbating them. The BBC reports: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39431680

Ocean Oxygen Loss Quantified and Predicted
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has crunched the data to measure and predict the loss of oxygen from the world’s oceans, due to global warming. A tipping point is now expected in the 2030s. This has powerful implications for all life in the oceans, as well as those, such as humans, which depend on the seas’ bounty. AtmosNews details the information: https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/news/20721/widespread-loss-of-ocean-oxygen-become-noticeable-in-2030s

The Elephant in the Corner of the Global Warming Room
In tackling the roots of climate change, and often other forms of pollution, agriculture is often passed by as too crucial, or too ensconced to address. An international team of scientists has concluded that’s just not good enough. The BBC has more on the dilemma posed by the growing of crops that is killing the planet: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36315952

The News on Neonics
Somewhat mixed news comes on the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids. Implicated in die-offs of bees and other invertebrates, as well as effecting the birds and bats which ingest contaminated bugs, the neonics have been the bane of environmentalists for some years. Taking a noteworthy step, the chemical firm Ortho has announced it will discontinue the chemicals’ use in their products by 2021. The Oregonian has the story: http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2016/04/ortho_to_eliminate_chemical_su.html#incart_river_index

In other neonic news, researchers have determined that different classes of the chemicals pose different levels of threat to the environment. Unfortunately, this may only add to the controversy surrounding their elimination. The BBC reports: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36154134

Monarch Migration Mystery Solved
While the long migration of monarch butterflies is well known, the insects’ method of navigation has remained impenetrable. Now researchers have concluded that the monarchs’ reckoning is based on the sun. The BBC has details: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36046746

New Toxins Developed to Target Pests
Although not without controversy, one of the more successful strategies for eliminating agricultural pests has been using Bt toxins. Unfortunately, the insects targeted by the approach have developed resistance to the toxins used. Now researchers have done some ground-breaking research which offers hope for overcoming the problem. Ars Technica explains: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/researchers-evolve-new-toxin-to-target-agricultural-pests/

Global Fishing Grossly Under-reported
A recent analysis by researchers from the University of British Columbia questions the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates for the annual take from the world’s oceans. The scientists assert that the actual take runs almost a third higher than reported, and is declining. The BBC has details: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35347446

Neonicotinoids’ Effects on Bees Measured
In findings that may prove controversial, French researchers have concluded that while neonicotinoid pesticides do harm individual bees, hives as a whole can compensate. With neonics widely implicated in colony collapse disorder, there may be more to come on this story. The BBC elaborates: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34846629

Bumblebees on Neonicotinoids Pollinate Less
At the same time the French were drawing their conclusions, British researchers were finding that bumblebees exposed to neonics weren’t able to pollinate as well, to the point of adversely affecting crop success. The BBC explains: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34857858

Bumblebees Used to Deliver Natural Pesticides
In an interesting twist, a Vancouver, B.C. company is using what they call “Bee Vectoring Technology (BVT)” to have bumblebees deliver natural pesticides, beneficial microbes and fungi. Gizmag has the scoop: http://www.gizmag.com/bumblebees-pesticide-deliveries/40143/

Diesel a Problem Beyond Just Cheating Manufacturers
While the Volkswagen Group’s pollution test cheating has been big in the news, a less publicized hazard has come to light: the long-chain hydrocarbons emitted by diesel engines. The BBC reports: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34347873

Bats a Key to Battling Pests Without Pesticides
The world’s embattled bats are facing a range of threats. Hazards from deadly fungi to habitat loss to wind turbines have caused bat populations to plummet. At the same time, researchers are beginning to realize that bats provide indispensable pest-control services to farmers and the general populace. The BBC draws from several sources to report on the situation: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34246501
As the Smithsonian details, some researchers are attempting to put a dollar value on the benefits of bats, with hopes of sparking conservation efforts: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/want-reduce-pesticide-use-save-bats-180956720/

Eucalyptus May Spell Hope for Bees
The Times of Israel has a rather optimistic article on the benefits to bees of eucalyptus trees. The article suggests the trees might be helpful in the U.S. Well, maybe, but the eucalyptus is non-native and the bees studied are European honey bees, also non-native, here. Still, it is an interesting possibility: http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-adopted-eucalyptus-trees-are-the-bees-knees/

Mason Bee Workshop
Long-time member Stephanie Hazen wrote to inform us of a workshop for better understanding and helping one of our native bees, the mason bee, (not Masonic-Temple-member bees). Included will be a slide show on mason bees and their development, display of mason bee habitat, and demonstration of how to clean mite-infested bee cocoons. The event is free, and will be held at the Fresh Start Community Room at 3020 Center Street N.E. from 9 a.m. to noon. It is asked that you pre-register, either at the Marion County Extension Office, or by calling 503.588.5301

Seabirds At High Risk from Plastic Waste
Plastic waste, from large floating chunks to almost microscopic bits on the seafloor, are fouling oceans at a prodigious rate. The BBC explores the devastating effect this is having on seabirds: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34108017

Cypress Hope for Wildfire Containment
Ongoing drought has made the Western U. S. a tinderbox in recent summers. Research from Europe may hold some hope for helping contain the ravaging blazes that have become commonplace. The BBC has more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34116491

Oil Fouls Famous California Beach
Refugio State Beach in California, site of a huge oil spill in 1969 that helped ignite the environmental movement, has fallen victim to another spill, this time from a broken pipe. While the latest spillage is only a tenth the size of the massive 1969 event, it is still causing significant concern and cleanup efforts are underway. Al Jazeera America has the story, along with photos which depict an appalling scene: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/19/pipeline-bursts-spilling-oil-on-california-coast.html

Indian Ocean Robs Heat, Skews Air Temperature Results
Climate change deniers have made much of the apparent slowing in recent years of atmospheric warming. It turns out they have little reason to be smug; the heat was being absorbed by the Indian Ocean, and it’s neither a good thing, nor is it going to last. The mechanisms of the process are complex, but Ars Technica has an approachable account of the dynamics: http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/05/how-the-indian-ocean-ended-up-stealing-the-atmospheres-heat/

The Extraterrestrial Origins of Earth’s Water
So, where did all this water to paddle on come from? It came from space, in a journey that involves vast scales of time and cosmos for the trip to be consummated in our oceans. BBC Earth has the story, with their usual lavish illustrations: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150526-alien-origin-of-earths-oceans

Fight Brewing Over New Dam Near Silverton
A proposed dam and reservoir on Drift Creek, a tributary to the Pudding River, is creating controversy between farming groups, while also generating concern in the conservation community. It’s a tangled tale, with a water district trying to use eminent domain, outside the district’s boundaries, to claim land that has been held by farm families for generation upon generation. Drift Creek is also said to be home to Coho salmon and lamprey. It would seem the 21st Century water wars have commenced, right here in the greater Willamette Valley. The Oregonian covers the story: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/05/farmer_v_farmer_future_of_oreg.html#incart_river

Pennsylvania Wells Found to Have Fracking Chemicals
Drinking water sampled from wells in Pennsylvania has tested positive for 2-Butoxyethanol, a chemical used in Marcellus Shale fracking operations. While the substance, thought to be a carcinogen, is used in products such as paint and cosmetics, the authors of the paper reporting these findings describe a plausible mechanism for the chemical originating from fracking. As one of the authors, and geoscientist, Susan Brantley put it, “This is the first case published with a complete story showing organic compounds attributed to shale gas development found in a homeowner’s well.” The New York Times has the story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/science/earth/fracking-chemicals-detected-in-pennsylvania-drinking-water.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1

Monitoring Water Quality, the Tampon Way
In a unique application of the feminine hygiene product, scientists are using tampons to help monitor water quality. Key to this development is the pure, clean cotton used in the tampons. It serves as a low cost way to absorb the water, and along with it any contaminants. Of particular use for finding sewage contamination, the cotton absorbs optical brighteners used in most laundry detergents, which in turn glow under UV light. The Smithsonian has the scoop on this novel use for an off-the-shelf product: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-scientists-monitoring-water-with-tampons-180955008/

Hubble’s Spacey Eye Candy
Although it has little to do with paddling itself, when camping by a secluded waterway, many of us have looked up and marveled to see the Milky Way stretch from horizon to horizon. The Hubble Space Telescope is now marking its 25th anniversary of bringing those celestial delights into sharper focus. The Smithsonian provides a nice gallery of some of the high points in Hubble’s stellar career: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hubble-space-telescope-has-been-space-25-years-180955094/